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E COLLEGE  ELuv^n  i 
F WOMEN  'j£  ^ 


JOHN  FRANKLIN  GOUCHER, 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  WOMAN’S 
COLLEGE,  BALTIMORE  .... 

UNIVERSITY  OP  ILLINQ 


PRESIDENT'S  OFFICE. 


FEB  2 2 1918  * 

THE  ADVISABLE  DIFFERENCES  BE- 
TWEEN THE  EDUCATION  OF  YOUNG 
WOMEN  AND  THAT  OF  YOUNG  MEN 


JOHN  FRANKLIN  GOUCHER, 

President  of  The  Woman' s College,  Baltimore 


Opening  Address  before  the  Fourteenth 
Annuat  Meeting  of  the  New  England 
Association  of  Colleges  and  Preparatory 
Schools,  Harvard  University , Oct.  ij,  1S99 


YJU 


G*.  ] j t 


1HE  ADVISABLE  DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN 
1HE  EDUCATION  OF  YOUNG  WOMEN 
AND  THAT  OF  YOUNG  MEN 


JOHN  FRANKLIN  GOUCHER 

President  of  The  Woman’s  College,  Baltimore 


Ideals  and  opportunities  are  essentials  of  success.  In 
the  absence  of  ideals  effort  would  be  without  an  intelligible 
goal  and  achievement  would  have  no  proper  gauge.  An  ideal 
clearly  perceived  in  conditions  which  make  its  approxima- 
tion impossible  would  be  tantalizing  if  not  revulsive.  The 
discussion  of  “the  advisable  differences  between  the  educa- 
tion of  young  women  and  young  men  ” cannot  ignore  these 
two  essentials.  It  should  be  based  upon  clear  perceptions  of 
the  ideals  to  be  sought,  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
those  to  be  educated,  and  the  object  and  nature  of  education. 

The  terms  young  women  and  young  men  exclude  infants 
and  children,  as  well  as  persons  of  maturer  years,  and  include 
young  people  who  are  from  sixteen  or  seventeen  to  twenty- 
one  or  twenty-two  years  of  age.  This  rules  out  of  the  dis- 
cussion primary  and  secondary  education,  also  graduate  and 
technical  education,  and  limits  our  consideration  to  college 
education. 

Graduate  and  technical  education  appeal  to  the  student 
largely  as  an  instrument.  College  education  addresses  the 
student  as  a person.  The  object  of  college  education  is  not 

8 


to  make  a living,  but  to  make  a life.  It  is  the  unfolding,  by 
instruction  and  training,  of  the  whole  nature  towards  its 
highest  possibilities.  It  is  something  else  and  something 
more  than  the  mastering  of  languages  and  sciences,  import- 
ant as  these  are  as  agencies  and  accessories.  It  has  to  do 
with  the  mental,  physical,  esthetic  and  spiritual  natures; 
it  aims  at  the  healthful  development  of  each  and  the  proper 
correlation  of  all  attributes  and  functions  of  the  complex 
nature  into  a symmetrical  personality.  It  includes  everything 
which  enters  into  or  influences  the  formation  of  character 
and  aids  the  individual  to  the  mastery  of  himself  at  his  best. 

If  the  terms  young  women  and  young  men  are  synonymous 
and  are  not  used  to  designate  and  in  a measure  describe  per- 
sons or  classes  with  different  characteristics,  there  is  no  need 
for  a discussion,  for  if  the  two  classes  are  identical  in  nature, 
functions  and  ideal,  their  education  should  be  identical. 

But  if  the  nature  has  a purposeful  relation  to  the  ideal 
and  both  nature  and  ideal  in  one  class  differ  essentially  from 
the  nature  and  ideal  of  the  other  class,  their  functions  can- 
not be  identical,  competitive  or  substitutional  to  more  than 
a limited  extent,  and  the  education  should  be  so  adjuste 
to  the  nature  and  ideal  of  each,  that  its  functions  will  not 

be  impaired  but  strengthened. 

There  are  physical  and  psychical  differences  between  young 
women  and  young  men.  These  are  inherent,  indicative  of 
the  sexes  and  determine  the  functions  to  which  each  is 
adapted.  These  inherent  differences  are  in  process  of  devel- 
opment and  establishment  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  anc 
twenty-one.  Their  establishment  makes  considerable,  and 
in  many  cases,  severe  drafts  upon  the  system.  In  one  class 

1 rn-irl  OV( 


in  many  cases,  ocvcm  — — — - 

this  process  is  much  more  protracted  and  exacting  than 

...  , • 1-v/w  rlicvnnrtirHpf  WlTm 


in 


tins  process  i&  r— 

the  other,  and  its  exactions  may  not  be  disregarded  witho 
OTcar  peril  for  their  proper  establishment  and  maintenance 
is  0f  prime  importance  to  health  and  efficiency.  An  attempt 


4 


to  ignore  them  would  contradict  the  historic  and  scientific 
necessities  of  the  development  of  the  race. 

Scientifically:  Development  always  emphasizes  peculiari- 
ties and  registers  itself  in  individualization.  In  the  lower 
orders  of  life  exchange  of  functions  is  not  impossible,  but 
as  they  advance  distinctions  which  were  rudimentary  and 
scarcely  discernible  become  pronounced,  determining  appear- 
ance, character  and  use.  Interference  with  or  suppression 
of  these  characteristics  is  not  progress,  but  degeneration. 

Historically:  In  the  lower  stages  of  civilization  woman 
had  to  do  nearly  every  form  of  work.  She  was  mother, 
teacher,  agriculturist,  purveyor,  manufacturer,  merchant, 
banker  and  general  drudge.  Man  occupied  himself  with 
such  employments  as  were  incidental  to  aggressive  or  defen- 
sive warfare.  Civilization  has  developed  increased  efficiency 
and  realized  excellence  by  specializing  the  work  of  each. 
Civilization  and  interdependence  develop  side  by  side.  As 
we  rise  in  the  scale  of  civilization  the  demands  upon  woman 
concentrate  more  and  more,  yet  maintain  as  great  variety 
within  their  narrower  limits,  while  the  demands  upon  man 
are  multiplied,  but  simplified  by  processes  of  specialization. 
The  suggestions  of  the  earlier  condition  are  the  character- 
istics of  the  later.  Woman’s  special  work  is  still  centered 
in  the  home  and  circles  outward,  while  man’s  special  work 
is  outside  the  home  and  circles  inward,  each  essential  to 
and  supplementing  the  other. 

Man’s  success  is  through  concentration,  continuity  of  work 
and  cumulative  results.  He  must  be  a specialist,  limiting 
his  field  if  he  would  intensify  his  power.  His  strength  is  in 
persistence.  The  diffused  man  is  pilloried  as  “jack  of  all 
trades,  master  of  none.” 

The  highest  function  of  womanhood  is  motherhood.  Her 
whole  organization  is  adjusted  to  the  accomplishment  of  this. 
She  is  of  a more  intense  nature,  has  keener  insight  and 


5 


stronger  passions,  is  more  occupied  with  variables  and  less 
skillful  in  generalization  than  man.  The  laws  written  in 
lir  nature  require  her  to  stand  nearest  childhood,  and  make 
her  the  determining  factor  in  the  moral,  esthetic  and  socia 
atmosphere  of  the  home,  which  is  the  embryo  and  exponent 
o society  and  civilization.  Her  work  rs  the  more  dift- 

SSSSg 

The  demands  upon  her  are  varied  mvoln  d am  nee(Js 

and  her  success  will  depend  upon  her  versat:  J. 
alertness  and  eTi, poise 

wtwtu  chat  and  strong  through  discipline,  lot,,  in 

and  inspiration  of  the  host  in  society,  «n  ™ 
l^i^Xgqnaimed  to  meet  the  varied  demands  of  family 

UfThe  family  and  not  the  individual,  is  the  unit  factor  of 
the  Christian  civilization.  The  ideals  for  womanhood  and 

S othmH  incomplete.  Neither  has  a j"  * “ “ 

r Qfprl  like  the  person  who  wished  she  had  been  ho 
Hid  children  but  the,  fail  short  of  the  ideal! 

and  must  he  considered  and  provided  for  as  excepttona  Th. 
ideal  womanhood  and  manhood  are  to  ho  sought  m the  fain 


ily,  for  this  is  the  unalterable  provision  for  the  continuance 
of  the  race,  and  education,  whatever  else  it  does  or  does  not, 
should  not  fail  to  prepare  the  two  diverse  but  supplemental 
personalities  for  this  dual  unity. 

The  education  of  people  as  people  is  quite  a modern  thing. 
For  centuries  there  have  been  here  and  there  examples 
of  the  influence  of  educated  women,  but  the  higher  educa- 
tion of  woman  as  a class  is  of  recent  effort.  The  problem  is 
still  in  its  experimental  stage  and  cannot  he  settled  offhand. 
The  need  for  and  ability  of  women  to  take  college  education 
is  demonstrated  by  their  record  and  conceded  by  the  intelli- 
gent, hut  its  scope,  the  methods  by  which,  and  the  condi- 
tions within  which,  the  most  desirable  results  can  be  realized 
are  still  open  questions. 

Coeducation,  whatever  that  is,  has  not  satisfied  the  re- 
quirements. The  term  is  indefinitely  used  to  designate  vari- 
ables which  it  does  not  describe.  There  is  no  institution 
where  the  sexes  are  educated  alike.  Restrictions  are  always 
placed  upon  the  young  women,  which  are  not  solely  deter- 
mined by  age,  standing,  or  purpose,  hut  by  their  sex.  In 
some  of  these  institutions  the  young  women  and  young  men 
are  required  to  use  the  gymnasium  at  different  hours  and 
given  different  exercises.  In  others  the  young  women  are 
practically  excluded  from  its  use,  and  in  , all  they  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  baseball,  football,  lacrosse,  and  boating 
teams,  and  denied  the  systematic  training  given  these.  The 
times,  places,  and  conditions  for  intercourse  with  young 
men  are  restricted;  the  methods  and  frequently  the  content 
of  instruction  are  varied.  Differences  are  always  recog- 
nized, and  must  be  for  prudential  reasons  and  to  meet 
the  demands  of  society,  for  there  is  a deep-seated  and  gen- 
eral conviction,  prejudice,  opinion,  judgment —call  it  what 
i you  please — that  there  are  radical  differences  between  the 
two  sexes. 


In  every  well  regulated  family  there  is  a marked  differ- 
ence between  the  treatment  of  the  boys  and  girls.  The  one- 
roomed  cabin  in  the  South  and  West  is  an  evil  of  the  same 
kind  as  the  crowded  tenement  house  in  the  city,  for  each 
makes  more  difficult  that  individualizing  of  the  sexes  which 
is  for  the  best  interests  of  both.  When  the  problem,  con- 
fessedly difficult  in  the  family,  is  further  complicated  by 
multiplying  each  unit  by  one  or  two  hundred,  dividing  the 
direction  among  a diverse  faculty,  at  a time  when  the  sexual 
distinctions  are  in  the  crisis  of  their  development,  the  asser- 
tiveness of  youth  is  at  its  maximum,  and  willingness  for 
routine  at  its  minimum,  it  is  manifestly  important  that 
classification  and  individualizing  be  applied  as  far  as  possible, 
in  order  that  means  and  ends  may  have  the  best  approximate 
relation  to  each  other. 

The  attempt  to  educate  young  women  and  young  men 
as  one  usually  assumes  that  one  to  be  the  young  man,  and 
the  adjustments  of  the  work  are  generally  made  with  refer- 
ence to  maintaining  the  standards  just  like  institutions 
whose  sole  purpose  it  is  to  prepare  young  men  foi  the 
demands  of  industrial,  civil  or  professional  life. 

Young  women  as  a rule  are  not  aided  in  their  best  work 
as  students  by  the  presence  of  young  men.  The  results  are 
variable.  With  some  it  is  dissipating,  with  others  it  pro- 
duces an  undesirable  reserve,  and  with  others  an  unhealthy 
tension  and  nervous  strain. 

The  high  grade,  thoroughly  equipped  colleges  for  women, 
established  at  great  expense  during  the  past  two  or  three 
decades,  have  more  applicants  knocking  at  their  doors  than 
they  can  accommodate.  This  is  a demonstration  of  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  coeducational  experiment.  This  dis- 
satisfaction is  greater  than  it  seems.  According  to  the  last 
report  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  1896-7,  there 
were  429  young  women  pursuing  college  education  in  the 


United  States  for  every  million  of  the  population.  Of  these, 
223,  or  52  per  cent.,  were  in  coeducational  colleges  and  uni- 
versities, and  206,  or  48  per  cent.,  in  the  separate  colleges 
for  women.  To  appreciate  this  fact  we  must  remember — 
in  the  not  remote  past,  the  only  opportunity  for  women  to 
secure  a thorough  college  education  was  in  the  coeducational 
institutions.  The  large  number  of  coeducational  institutions 
proposing  to  do  college  work — there  are  335  of  them  scat- 
tered all  over  the  country — afford  proximity,  home  residence, 
parental  guidance,  and  comparative  inexpensiveness  to  many 
who  would  not  go  from  home  to  a coeducational  institu- 
tion.. The  colleges  for  women  are  less  numerous,  more  re- 
mote from  their  clientele,  and  without  state  aid,  yet  the 
students  in  the  colleges  for  women  constitute  48  per  cent, 
of  the  entire  number  of  young  women  seeking  college  edu- 
cation. 

Cash  outlay  is  in  many  cases  the  determining  factor  in 
attendance  upon  a coeducational  institution.  The  colleges 
and  universities  receiving  federal  and  state  aid  are  able  to 
offer  cheap,  and,  in  many  cases,  free  tuition,  and  they 
number  among  their  students  of  college  grade  5533  young 
women,  or  35  per  cent,  of  all  who  are  attending  coeducational 
institutions. 

Of  the  15,652  women  in  the  coeducational  institutions  of 
the  United  States  seeking  college  education,  11,453  or  73— |— 
per  cent.,  are  in  the  institutions  north  of  the  Ohio  and  west 
of  the  Mississippi  rivers.  This  includes  all  the  new  states 
and  territories,  where  the  pioneers  have  been  so  busy  laying 
foundations  and  developing  resources  that  they  have  made 
but  little  and  in  most  states  no  provision,  other  than  coedu- 
cational for  the  college  training  of  women. 

Of  the  young  women  who  in  1896-7  were  doing  college 
work  in  the  coeducational  institutions,  only  one  in  21  + 
received  the  degree  of  A.  B.,  while  in  the  colleges  for  women 


one  in  14+  attained  to  that  degree.  Great  is  love,  and 
propinquity  is  her  high  priest,  and  it  would  be  interesting 
if  we  had  the  facts  at  command  to  determine  how  far  mar- 
riage before  graduation  accounts  for  these  striking  figures. 
Leisure  and  concentration  are  conditions  of  culture.  When 
concentration  is  necessary  the  object  sought  should  deter- 
mine the  things  to  be  eliminated  and  freedom  from  obtrusive 
opportunities  for  social  intercourse  in  part  accounts  for  the 
excellent  showing  of  the  colleges  for  women. 

The  college  education  of  women  has  entered  upon  the 
fourth  stage  of  the  experiment. 

The  first  was  the  pseudo-college  training,  in  the  so-called 
“ female  colleges.”  The  name  was  a concession  to  the  times. 
The  schools  served  a purpose  and  marked  an  important 
advance,  but  gave  way  to  the  larger  requirements  of  the 
problem. 

The  second  was  coeducation,  or  the  attempt  of  young  women 
to  get  their  education  in  colleges  for  men.  It  has  made  for 
itself  a record  and  will  continue  to  have  a clientage  among 
those  who  live  contiguous,  or  believe  competition  with  the 
opposite  sex  to  be  helpful,  or  would  improve  their  opportuni- 
ties for  early  marriage,  or  think  the  differences  between 
young  women  and  young  men  are  not  of  such  character  as  to 
be  considered  in  education,  or  let  the  cash  outlay  required 
determine  their  selection. 

The  colleges  for  women,  which  already  contain  48  per  cent, 
of  the  young  women  seeking  college  education,  have  been 
engaged  in  the  third  stage  of  the  experiment,  namely,  the 
attempt  to  give  in  separate  institutions  education  identical, 
in  matter  and  method,  with  that  provided  for  men,  or  the 
attempt  to  use  man-making  methods  for  woman-making 
purposes. 

The  longings  of  woman  for  culture,  her  intense  desire  for 
superior  opportunities  which  man  possessed,  the  fact  that  she 


10 


was  prejudged  unequal  to  such  severe  and  comprehensive 
work,  and  the  further  fact  that  men  had  set  the  standards 
of  excellence,  made  her  unwilling  to  accept  anything  else 
than  that  which  was  found  in  the  colleges  for  men,  and  all 
the  colleges  for  women  modeled  their  courses,  instruction 
and  administration  after  those  standards. 

But  what  is  identical  education?  Is  it  to  be  identical  with 
the  age  when  only  Greek  and  mathematics  were  required,  or 
is  it  to  be  identical  with  the  college  of  a few  years  ago,  when 
the  curriculum  was  inflexible  and  cut  up  into  four  years  of 
required  work  with  no  opportunity  for  electives  or  even 
alternatives,  or  which  of  the  great  schools  of  to-day  shall  be 
selected  as  the  model,  and  who  shall  define  it  in  exact  terms, 
or  if  it  is  so  defined,  who  can  guarantee  the  definition  will 
describe  the  provisions,  limitations  and  requirements  twelve 
months  hence,  or  if  it  can  be  defined,  imitated  and  adminis- 
tered to  women,  is  it  to  be  supposed  or  desired  that  the  results 
will  be  identical  with  those  realized  with  men? 

The  present  effort  in  the  colleges  for  men  is  not  to  bring 
every  young  man,  whatever  his  talent  or  purpose,  to  the  same 
standard  by  the  use  of  an  inflexible  method,  but  after  con- 
sidering his  peculiarities,  aptitudes  and  purpose,  to  determine 
the  preparation  most  desirable  for  each  particular  man,  and 
then  assign  such  subjects  and  such  methods  of  studying 
them  as  will  best  aid  him  to  his  purpose.  If  this  is  desirable 
for  young  men,  it  is  equally  so  for  young  women,  and  abso- 
lutely necessary  as  between  two  classes  with  inherently 
different  characteristics,  functions  and  ideals. 

This  is  being  recognized  among  the  colleges  for  women 
and  to  a greater  or  less  degree  they  have  entered  upon  the 
fourth  stage  of  the  experiment,  viz.,  to  educate  young  women 
as  women.  As  the  experiment  has  not  been  carried  to  a de- 
monstration, no  one  is  prepared  to  speak  the  final  word  upon 
the  subject. 


n 


The  topic  assigned  me,  “ the  advisable  differences  between 
the  education  of  young  women  and  young  men,”  proposes  a 
comparison  between  the  best  methods  of  educating  these 
two  classes  of  college  students.  As  those  who  are  specially 
engaged  in  the  education  of  young  men  are  still  experiment- 
ing, observing,  discussing  and  are  not  agreed  among  them- 
selves in  particulars  which  each  considers  important,  as 
to  specific  aims,  limits  and  methods,  and  as  the  higher  edu- 
cation of  woman  is  working  towards  conclusions,  but  has 
not  passed  its  experimental  stage,  may  I be  excused  from 
attempting  the  impossible  task  of  comparing  two  undeter- 
mined methods  and  be  permitted  to  make  a few  suggestions 
concerning  some  conditions  which  I think  very  desirable  for 
the  college  education  of  young  women?  Then,  any  who 
cares  to  may  compare  his  ideal  of  the  education  of  young 
men  with  these  suggestions  and  draw  his  own  conclusions  as 
to  desirable  differences. 

As  college  education  includes  everything,  within  the  years 
of  its  application,  which  enters  into  or  influences  the  forma- 
tion of  character,  and  aids  the  individual  to  the  mastery  of 
herself  at  her  best,  it  will  include  instruction,  administration 
and  equipment,  and  I will  speak  of: 

1.  The  equipment:  The  location  should  be  in  a representa- 
tive city,  not  in  the  business  center  nor  in  an  obscure  suburb, 
but  in  the  best  residential  section,  with  athletic  grounds, 
easily  accessible.  Young  women  should  not  be  disarticu- 
lated from  society.  But  while  they  are  students  they  should 
be  relieved  from  its  obtrusive  solicitations  and  onerous  de- 
mands. Such  a location  may  be  relatively  somewhat  expen- 
sive, but  the  question  is  not  the  cheapest  place  but  the 
best.  The  city  will  be  as  healthful  as  any  other  place  and 
more  broadening,  and  the  students  will  be  less  liable  to  fads 
and  absurdities  of  conduct  which  sometimes  attend  large 
companies  of  yonng  people  when  isolated.  Ft  makes  possible 


the  attendance  of  specialists,  secures  visits  from  men  and 
women  distinguished  in  science,  literature,  art,  or  politics, 
who,  by  their  presence  and  the  force  of  their  personality,  are 
important  factors  in  thorough  culture.  Works  of  art,  the 
best  music,  large  libraries,  valuable  collections  illustrative  of 
natural  history  and  the  manufacturing  arts,  are  accessible  to 
an  extent  impossible  in  a rural  or  less  central  location,  while 
economic,  benevolent  and  religious  organizations  afford  in- 
valuable opportunities  for  illustration  and  study. 

The  buildings  should  be  well  differentiated,  not  too  large 
and  not  more  than  three  stories  high,  two  might  be  better; 
the  stairs  should  be  easy  and  if  a building  is  three  or  more 
stories  high  there  should  be  elevators  in  constant  use  for 
those  who  may  desire  them.  Each  building  should  be  partic- 
ularly adapted  to  the  department  or  work  it  is  to  house. 
The  furnishings  of  the  laboratories,  libraries,  museums  and 
gymnasium  should  be  ample  and  easily  accessible  and  the 
working  sections  should  contain  as  many  duplicates  as  will 
enable  the  students  to  study  and  familiarize  themselves  with 
the  books  and  specimens  out  of  class  hours. 

The  halls  of  residence  should  be  separate  from  the  labor- 
atories, instruction  halls  and  from  each  other,  but  conven- 
iently near.  They  should  not  have  more  than  two  and  better 
but  one  in  a room,  and  provide  accommodations  for  from 
fifty  to  sixty  students  each,  not  too  few  lest  it  encroach  upon 
independence  and  interfere  with  the  ease  of  general  inter- 
course, and  not  too  many  lest  it  fail  to  secure  carefully 
guarded  rest.  Healthful  development  is  impossible  unless 
repair  exceeds  expenditure  and  rest  is  as  imperative  as 
activity. 

The  buildings  should  be  constructed  with  the  greatest  care 
as  to  light  and  heat,  ventilation  and  sanitation,  convenience 
and  artistic  effect  in  arrangement  and  outlines,  coloring  and 
detail.  Everything  should  be  characterized  by  simplicity, 


utility  and  harmony  of  relations.  It  is  important  that  young 
women  who  are  to  he  the  home-makers  shall  spend  the  three 
or  four  impressible  years  of  their  college  life  in  an  esthetic 
atmosphere  which  shall  develop  and  satisfy  the  most  refined 
taste.  The  faculty  should  be  about  equally  divided  between 
men  and  women,  chosen  because  of  their  strong,  helpful 
personality,  aptness  to  teach  and  scholarship.  Manliness  and 
womanliness  should  be  as  jealously  insisted  upon  as  aptness 
to  teach  and  scholarship,  for  efficiency  will  be  determined 
by  the  average  of  the  three,  rather  than  by  the  excess  of  any 
one  of  these. 

2.  The  administration:  It  should  be  a college  for  women. 
It  should  not  permit  the  mingling  of  two  distinct  classes  of 
students,  neither  young  women  and  young  men,  nor  college 
preparatory  and  college  students,  nor  college  students  and 
graduate  students.  The  college  education  of  young  women 
should  be  separated  from  all  these  complications,  in  order  to 
realize  the  best  results. 

The  number  of  students  in  a college  for  women  should  not 
be  too  large,  about  four  hundred  should  be  the  maximum, 
and  the  classes  should  be  handled  in  sections  relatively  small. 
When  the  patronage  is  largely  local,  the  results  are  in  danger 
of  being  provincial.  The  attendance  should  be  large  enough 
to  permit  of  careful  classification,  great  variety  of  studies 
and  representatives  from  the  different  sections  of  the  coun- 
try but  small  enough  that  the  professors  and  instructors  may 
know  each  student  in  their  classes  personally,  understand 
their  peculiarities  of  taste  and  aptitude  and  counsel  them 
wisely  as  to  their  plans  and  work.  Fullness  of  opportunity 
is  to  be  desired,  and  a well  defined  ideal  is  necessary,  and 
youug  women  are  not  likely  to  avail  themselves  of  either 
when  the  restraints  of  home  have  been  removed  without  wise 
counsel  and  intelligent  guidance  by 'those  who  personally 
know  and  sympathize  with  them.  Nothing  can  serve  as  a 


4 


substitute  for  friendly  intercourse  and  personal  confidence, 
between  teachers  and  students. 

It  is  undesirable  for  teachers  to  reside  in  the  residence  halls 
with  the  students.  They  will  have  more  and  a better  influ- 
ence if  they  come  to  the  halls  of  instruction  with  the  force 
of  a fresh  relation  and  occasionally  entertain  their  students, 
a few  at  a time,  in  their  homes. 

If  the  development  is  to  be  normal  and  result  in  a strong, 
self-reliant  personality,  the  control  must  come  from  within 
and  work  outward;  it  must  not  be  by  espionage  and  repression 
but  by  an  acceptance  of  recognized  ideals  and  honorable  self- 
direction.  The  regulations  should  be  few  as  may  be,  to  re- 
mind the  thoughtless,  instruct  the  ignorant  and  protect  the 
wise.  As  the  college  is  not  a reformatory,  the  presence  of 
the  vicious,  willful  or  weak  should  not  be  permitted. 

The  work  of  young  women,  as  to  method,  should  be 
wrought  within  conditions  less  rigid  than  might  be  proper 
for  men,  more  liberty  should  be  given  for  the  larger  play  of 
individual  conditions  which  with  them  are  more  variable. 

The  truest  womanliness  is  not  attained  by  the  persistent 
dig.  Provision  should  be  made  for  regulated  social  functions. 
Dinner  should  be  a leisurely  and  a somewhat  formal  meal. 
Exceptions  should  be  provided  for  at  irregular  intervals,  and 
calls  from  young  men  permitted  within  proper  limits.  Large 
liberty  within  the  proprieties  of  refined  society  should  be 
permitted.  Literary,  scientific,  benevolent,  Christian  and 
social  organizations,  within  the  student  body,  should  be  en- 
couraged, but  the  students  should  be  counseled  to  exercise 
choice  and  limit  the  number  to  which  they  belong.  The 
helpful  influence  of  a few  such  associations  should  not  be 
dissipated  by  membership  in  many.  Such  are  the  conditions 
of  society  that  young  men  can  readily  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  their  social  nature.  Opportunities  are  more  neces- 
sary and  less  accessible  to  young  women  away  from  their 


15 


homes,  and  should  not  be  overlooked,  for  woman’s  power  to 
bless  is  increased  by  her  ease  and  grace  in  the  various  rela- 
tions in  which  she  finds  herself. 

From  inclination,  or  training,  or  because  social  standards 
restrain,  young  women  are  more  sedentary  than  young  men, 
their  pursuits  when  not  at  study  tend  more  to  withdraw  them 
from  exercise  than  to  invite  them  to  it,  and  provision  should 
be  made  for  adjusted,  systematic  and  required  exercises 
under  the  personal  direction  of  skilled  medical  advisors  and 
specialists  in  mechanico-therapeutics,  for  a disciplined  body 
is  as  essential  to  a thoroughly  educated  woman  as  a cultured 
mind  or  loyal  spirit. 

The  higher  education  must  include  the  education  of  the 
higher  nature.  A representative  college  in  a Christian  land 
should  have  a faculty  and  an  atmosphere  thoroughly  Christ- 
ian. Thorough  culture  is  always  reverent.  All  will  agree 
that  whatever  may  be  their  positions  in  life  young  women 
should  have  healthy  bodies,  cultured  minds  and  Christian 
characters.  As  there  are  conditions  essential  to  intellectual 
and  physical  training,  so  there  should  be  provision  for  the 
spiritual  nature,  including  systematic  study  of  the  Bible, 
and  attendance  upon  chapel  and  church  services.  The  city 
location  makes  it  possible  for  each  student  to  continue  her 
relation  with  a church  and  pastor  in  the  denomination  with 
which  she  was  associated  at  home.  This  is  greatly  to  be 
preferred  to  the  abnormal  arrangement  of  a college  church. 

3.  The  instruction:  There  are  three  normal  relations  of 
woman  to  society,  and  every  woman  may  be  called  upon  to 
occupy  any  one  of  these  or  all  of  them  in  turn,  and  possibly 
all  of  them  at  once.  The  young  man  can  choose  his  vocation, 
prepare  for  and  work  towards  it,  and  wisely  or  unwisely,  the 
tendency  in  colleges  for  men  is  in  the  direction  of  more  and 
earlier  specialization  to  hasten  and  intensify  his  preparation. 
The  college  education  of  women  must  recognize  and  be  ad- 


1.0 


justed  to  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  to  determine  before- 
hand in  which  of  three  relations  she  will  find  her  chief 
opportunity.  Her  college  work  will  be  wisely  done  if,  so  far 
as  may  be,  it  qualifies  her  for  efficiency  in  them  all.  Unless 
invalided  physically,  mentally  or  morally,  and  so  properly 
included  among  the  dependent  classes  which  are  necessarily 
consumers,  she  will  be  called  upon  to  add  to  the  sum  total 
of  well-being  by  living  her  life  in  one  or  more  of  the 
following  relations. 

(а)  She  may  be  adjusted  according  to  the  highest  and  holi- 
est functions  of  her  nature,  as  wife  and  mother,  in  the  heart 
of  her  home.  In  this  organized  relation  of  wedded  oneness 
with  the  man  of  her  love,  she  will  be  at  her  best,  sharing 
responsibility  and  multiplying  influence. 

(б)  She  may  be  non-adjusted,  and  as  a bread-earner  re- 
quired to  work  at  a disadvantage  and  with  lower  aims,  as 
does  the  non-adjusted  male,  but  work  is  honorable  in  all, 
inseparable  from  life,  and  should  be  to  the  last  degree  effi- 
cient. For  reasons  inherent  in  her  sex,  as  already  intimated 
and  to  some  extent  from  social  prejudice,  all  occupations 
will  not  afford  her  equal  opportunities  for  success  in  bread- 
earning. Efficiency  is  found  along  lines  of  supply  and  de- 
mand, ability  and  opportunity,  and  the  college  education  of 
young  women  should  have  regard  to  her  possible  relation  to 
these  conditions. 

(c)  Every  community  should  have  a leisure  class,  not  com- 
posed of  persons  who  have  nothing  to  do,  but  of  those  who 
will  command  time  for  educational,  benevolent  and  religious 
work,  giving  their  services  for  the  general  good  without 
direct  financial  return.  This  class,  composed  largely  of 
women,  should  have  broad  culture,  so  as  to  be  efficient,  their 
judgment  controlling  and  their  feelings  humanizing  their 
activities. 


17 


To  meet  these  changeable  relations  and  the  varying  de- 
mands which  await  every  woman,  she  needs  versatility,  and 
her  college  education  should  especially  aim  at  culture  in  its 
broader  sense,  rather  than  to  prepare  her  as  a specialist  for 
a profession  or  a trade.  Culture  does  not  consist  in  the  things 
one  knows,  but  in  the  ability  to  appreciate  conditions  and 
relations  and  to  secure  desirable  results.  Its  object  is  not 
to  produce  an  encyclopedia  nor  an  instrument,  but  a forceful 
and  resourceful  personality.  This  will  require  discipline  and 
acquirements. 

The  discipline  should  not  be  narrow,  but  should  aim  at 
training  every  element  of  the  complex  nature.  The  physical 
to  endurance  and  graceful  obedience  to  the  will;  the  mental 
to  accuracy,  agility,  persistence,  keenness  of  'observation, 
clearness  of  perception  and  discriminative  expression;  and 
the  moral  to  truth,  justice,  forbearance,  self-restraint,  a high 
sense  of  honor  and  reverence.  That  is,  the  objective  of  cul- 
ture is  the  mastery  of  the  entire  self,  well  furnished  and  at 
its  best. 

In  securing  the  discipline  and  development  of  person- 
ality, it  is  wise  to  carry  on  the  processes  of  education,  so  far 
as  may  be,  by  the  use  of  such  studies  and  exercises  as  will 
enlarge  the  acquirements  at  the  same  time  they  discipline  the 
faculties.  Instruction  should  be  constructive,  furnishing 
materials  and  tools  as  well  as  developing  skill  in  the  use  of 
those  already  possessed.  In  order  to  this  it  should  be 
exact  and  comprehensive,  including  thorough  work  in  a 
liberal  range  of  subjects. 

A number  of  these  should  be  required  of  all  studehts, 
for  purposes  of  drill,  for  general  information  in  the 
fundamentals  of  knowledge,  or  for  acquaintance  with  prin- 
ciples. In  a general  way,  leaving  room  for  exceptions,  these 
should  include  chemistry  and  physics’,  hygiene  and  physi- 
ology, studied  by  laboratory  methods,  with  as  practical  bear- 


18 


ing  upon  domestic  science  as  may  be  without  sacrificing 
thoroughness  and  comprehensiveness,  some  branch  of  natural 
history  with  as  much  field  work  as  practicable,  history  and 
sociology,  economics  and  charities,  art  criticism,  philosophy, 
ethics  and  the  Bible — our  greatest  classic  and  text-book 
on  social  and  personal  ethics.  These  should  be  so  taught 
as  to  realize  enrichment  and  facility  of  discrimination 
in  the  relations  of  life.  English  should  be  so  taught  as  to 
secure  an  acquaintance  with,  appreciation  of  and  facility  in 
using  good  English,  and  every  student  should  have  at  gradu- 
ation a good  reading  knowledge  of  German  and  French.  All 
language  work  should  include  the  literary  and  stylistic  study 
of  the  authors  and  the  epoch  and  people  as  revealed  through 
their  literature.  The  study  of  a minor  course  in  these  var- 
ious subjects  will  aid  the  student  to  discover  herself,  her 
tastes  and  aptitudes,  furnish  her  with  horizon  and  some  per- 
spective, and  a considerable  fund  of  information.  It  will 
occupy  little  more  than  one  half  of  the  sixty  hours  in  her 
college  course.  I have  not  included  mathematics  in  the 
required  work,  for  this  subject  has  been  studied  for  six  or 
seven  years  before  entering  college. 

It  should  be  possible  to  pursue  a minor,  a major  and  one  or 
two  post-majors  in  any  principal  subject.  The  pursuit  of 
two  or  three  majors  is  very  desirable.  In  no  course  offered, 
except  in  the  post-major  courses,  should  emphasis  be  placed 
upon  the  technic  so  much  as  upon  the  culture  of  the  mind, 
the  senses,  the  appreciation,  the  personality. 

Every  student  should  be  required  to  continue  the  study  of 
one  principal  subject,  or  a subject  and  its  cognate  subjects, 
through  the  four  years  of  her  college  work.  A careful,  per- 
sistent, detailed,  and  comprehensive  study  of  one  leading* 
subject  through  three  or  four  years  gives  discipline  and  ac- 
curacy, mental  grasp  and  taste,  lays  foundations  and  secures 
facility  of  application  which  will  serve  in  any  or  all  of  her 


normal  relations,  in  the  home,  in  bread-earning,  or  in  the 
ministries  of  the  leisure  class.  Its  further  pursuit  in  later 
life  may  become  an  avocation  and  the  discipline  and  acquisi- 
tions derived  from  it  give  increased  efficiency  and  pleasure 
whatever  her  relations.  If  need  arise  it  may  determine  her 
vocation,  and  her  graduate  work  may  add  to  it,  or  larger 
success  in  some  other  line  may  be  possible  because  of  it. 

Inadequate  as  these  suggestions  are  to  even  outline  a part 
of  the  subject  assigned  me,  I make  them,  confident  that  the 
need  is  so  urgent,  the  distinctions  are  so  radical  and  inherent, 
the  effort  is  so  persistent,  and  failure  would  be  so  disastrous, 
that  the  end  sought  will  sooner  or  later,  along  these  or  other 
lines  not  widely  divergent  from  them,  determine  the  scope, 
the  means,  and  the  conditions  by  which  thorough  womanliness 
can  be  best  developed  and  realize  its  enthronement  in  the  heart 
and  home  of  humanity. 


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